Travelog for: Knopf

The day was really warm and sunny, so we got a little cool-down on a house-boat.

We took a business trip to Berlin. We had a lot of work to do, but we squeezed in a realy quick sight-seeing tour before sunset. We saw: (among other things) the holocaust memorial, Brandenburg gate, Reichstag, cathedral.

Before we had to catch our train, we saw picked the Pergamon museum out of the museums on the newly re-done museum island, to see. The great thing here are the rebuilt altars (Pergamon altar), market gates and the smaller one of the Ishtar gates and precessional street. A special exhibit about the "rescues gods of Tell Halaf" was really interesting with very modern looking statues that had to be rebuilt like puzzle pieces.

From Berlin we actually went to Hamburg, a big port in the north of Germany. But we had "Schietwetter" (bad weather), except for some pockets of sun on the first afternoon and evening.
We visited the fish market on Sunday morning and got very wet but eventually were able to take out the camera and take some photos:
-The Rickmer Rickmers, now a museum ship about trade in the 16th/17th century.
- St. Michaelis church, or Michel for short, and the view down from the viewing platform are popular with tourists and photography schools.
- the green-roofed townhall
- The swans have to be caught and transported to winter quaters when it gets real cold.
- The Binnenalster (inland water part of one of the two big rivers alog which the city was built: Elbe and Alster)

Speicherstadt in the evening light:

On our last day in Hamburg we visited the aquarium of Hagenbecks Tierpark.  We were climbed upon by Kattas and watched lots of fish and reptiles.

Yesterday we got on a plane and landed on this pretty dry looking volcanic island: Gran Canaria. Today I am just checking out the surroundings. These are the dunes of Maspalomas:

Today we visited the port of Mogan. The area around the port has been rebuilt in the traditional style and is quite pretty to look at. A yellow submarine offers tours for tourists and glass bottom ferries run to other ports in the south of the island.

Galdar was the capital of the Guanches at one time. We actually came to visit the Cueva Pintada, a cave with geometric rock drawing,s and the archeological park. Unfortunately, contrary to the information in the guide book, it was closed. So we wandered around the historic city and watched people prepare for the festivities of a holiday tomorrow: the Day of the Constitution. We found a great "dragontree" in a courtyard.

We are at a lighthouse at the very northwestern point of the island. The Atlantic Ocean crashing against the rocks is awesome.

After a stop at the harbor of Sardina for lunch we drove on to the Valle de Agaete, one of the greenest and supposedly prettiest valleys of Gran Canaria. The narrow dead-end road leads along the northern slope and unfortunately there was no place to stop where one could really see or photograph along the valley.

To complete your trip aournd the eges of the island we took the often narrow winding road along the west coast back to the south. The views could be spectacular, but unfortunately the tour wasn't anything for a weak stomach. I am really lucky that I do not get motion sick, as opposed to some of my travel companions.

This is a holiday in Spain: the day of the constitution.
Lot's of people are having picnics in the mountains or going out to hike or just for a meal at a restaurant. The Barranco de Guayadque is a favourite place for all of this apparently. This valley is mainly known for all the cave dwellings, real cave villages and hotels and restaurants that are still in use.

Next, we took the serpentine road via Ingenio to Tejeda.
We passed volcanis craters, pine forests and small towns and finally ascended to a level over the blanket of clouds. The road isn't in agood condition in all places and it helps to have a good stomach and a good car.

This is the town of Tejeda. You can see Roque Nublo in the background. This area has lots of almond trees, I collected some from around the trees and cracked the shells with a stone. There are many specialies involving almonds here: cake, ice-cream, bienmesabe and a dulce that can be added to other things or eaten on bread. It's very good!